Brain Farts

Monday, December 3, 2007

I guess it makes too much sense

The college football season is over, so now it’s time for my annual rant against the BCS and it’s flawed non-playoff system. Basically, anyone with a brain who cares about the competitive spirit of college football knows that we need a playoff system. My simple proposal for an 8-team playoff system is this: 1. The top 8 ranked teams meet in the first round, played at the Big-4 BCS bowls (Rose, Sugar, Orange and Fiesta) on New Years day. 2. The remaining 4 teams meet in the next round the following week at two of the Big-4 bowl sites. 3. The last remaining two teams meet in the championship round at one of the Big-4 bowl sites (one of the two that was not used the previous week. Pretty simple huh? The arguments against implementing a playoff system are usually a combination of the following: 1. The length of the season. 2. The big-4 bowl games lose their luster and history. 3. The strain on “student-athletes” academically. Now let’s go ahead and kill these silly arguments. 1. The length of the season will be too long. In my proposal, only 4 teams would play an extra game past the original bowl game (+1), and only two teams would play +2. College football teams currently play 11-13 regular season games. If they make a bowl game, that’s 12-14 games. Out of 117 teams, my system proposes that only 4 play 13-15, and only two play 14-16. Schedule-wise, the last game is played January 15th. Currently, the BCS title game is played on January 7th, so it’s not such a stretch to extend the season out 8 more days, especially if it means we can settle this once and for all on the field. 2. The history of the Big-4 bowl games gets ruined. Umm… too late for that. And that’s really not even accurate. Once the powers that be introduced the BCS title game (to be played at one of the Big-4 bowl sites, alternating each year) they effectively diminished the value of those bowl games. Teams that were in the national title hunt all season but don't make it have to "settle" for one of these games. But if you ask any of the players or coaches, because the tradition of the bowl games is so strong, they still appreciate the opportunity to play in them. And the tradition of the bowl doesn't just refer to the game itself. Being a west-coast guy, I'm all into the events surrounding the Rose Bowl each year, especially the Rose Parade. I know the other bowls have their own history and traditions, and that wouldn't be lost just because there are 3 more games to be played in the next couple of weeks. Also in my proposal, instead of one bowl site getting to host the BCS championship game each year, three sites get to host playoff games each year. That's millions of dollars to more bows… how can that be a bad thing? 3. More games would hurt the athletes academically. So this is the argument these college presidents always try to roll out there. I think we all know how comical it is to even suggest this, but let’s take it on. In my system, only 4 teams have an extra week of practice/preparation time. And then only two of those, would have another week. You're telling me that 2 weeks of practice time for only 2 out of 117 schools is hurting academics? What about the other 11-13 weeks during the regular season? If the athletes can juggle the classroom with the practice field then, they should be expected to be able to do it in mid-January. Also, people 1000 times smarter than I have already done the research in this area. They’ve concluded that the bowl format does not equate to greater academic success than the playoff format. Now tell me, how does my simple plan fail? Does it make too much sense? Doesn’t equate to more revenue? Am I missing something? College football fans, please leave a comment and let’s discuss.

2 Comments:

  • This whole BCS fiasco should be an indication that the computers are trying to take over the world. I'm just sayin'...

    I'll actually post an opinion on the playoff scenario when I've thought of intelligent discussion points. I can only use "you are right" so many times.

    By Blogger Melissa is..., At Monday, December 03, 2007 10:48:00 PM  

  • Ellen's reaction to Derry's post about the BCS system:
    ...
    ...
    ...
    ... crickets, crickets ...
    ...
    [cobwebs forming]

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At Tuesday, December 04, 2007 12:46:00 PM  

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